Austin Terry of San Angelo, Texas, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 13 pounds, 13 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart Series Texas Division event on Lake Amistad with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 59 pounds, 13 ounces. For his victory, Terry earned $34,915.
“I had a much tougher day out there today,” said Terry, who earned his first career victory in FLW competition. “The fish that I was catching all week were turning on late – once the sun came out. Today, that never happened.”
Throughout the tournament Terry would began his mornings throwing a sexy shad-colored Fury F-4 Phantom Squarebill. As the day progressed and the sun came out, he would move to a bluegill-colored Revenge swim jig or a shad-colored Jerry Rago swimbait. Today, Terry had to scratch out a limit throwing solely a white Revenge Baits swim jig.
“I still managed to catch around 10 fish today,” Terry continued. “The bite definitely wasn’t as good as yesterday, though.
“The majority of my fishing time was spent in areas that I found in practice, near the Mexico side,” Terry said. “I would fish the coves and target the drains and points. The fish were coming out of the backs of the drains. They were in the grass, about 1 to 2 feet deep. They were smaller areas, but I had 40 to 50 spots that I was hitting. It was huge to get the big bag right away on the first day, because it allowed me to go looking and find those fish.”
Terry has had success on Lake Amistad with FLW in the past – he finished in ninth place in 2012 in EverStart Series competition. Terry is fishing this season as a rookie on the FLW Tour, and said that this win will be a huge advantage for him heading into the first event of the season at Lake Okeechobee.
“I’m sure that it will really take a few days for this win to sink in,” Terry said. “It’s definitely going to be a big help heading into the Tour event at Okeechobee in two weeks. I can fish a little more relaxed now, and it won’t be as stressful. I’ve always been comfortable fishing shallow, grassy lakes and I love to flip and pitch. It looks like we’re going to be hitting the spawn there at just the right time, and I’m sure it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
The top 10 pros on Lake Amistad were:
1st: Austin Terry, San Angelo, Texas, 15 bass, 59-3, $34,915
2nd: Keith Combs, Huntington, Texas, 15 bass, 57-6, $13,093
3rd: Stephen Johnston, Hemphill, Texas, 15 bass, 57-1, $8,729
4th: Lamonte Loyd, Gilmer, Texas, 15 bass, 56-0, $7,856
5th: Kris Wilson, Montgomery, Texas, 15 bass, 54-4, $6,983
6th: Shane Moore, Argyle, Texas, 15 bass, 52-9, $6,110
7th: Dusty Schultz, Willis, Texas, 15 bass, 52-3, $5,237
8th: Gene Eisenmann, Frisco, Texas, 15 bass, 50-6, $4,364
9th: Mark Rouse, League City, Texas, 15 bass, 48-14, $3,491
10th: T.W. Hardy, Silsbee, Texas, 15 bass, 45-10, $2,619
Complete pro results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Hardy caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro division Friday – an 11-pound, 1-ounce giant – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $250.
Kevin Gressett of Tioga, Texas, won the Co-angler Division and a Ranger Z117 with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor with a three-day total of 14 bass weighing 44 pounds, 9 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers on Lake Amistad were:
1st: Kevin Gressett, Tioga, Texas, 14 bass, 44-9, Ranger Z117 with 90-horsepower outboard, $5,000
2nd: Johnny Matthews, Laguna Park, Texas, 15 bass, 42-14, $4,513
3rd: Daren Scott, Fort Worth, Texas, 15 bass, 42-8, $3,611
4th: Dan Wilson, Pilot Point, Texas, 15 bass, 37-10, $3,159
5th: Justin Cogburn, Eastland, Texas, 15 bass, 37-1, $2,708
6th: Brendan Kennell, Del Rio, Texas, 15 bass, 36-2, $2,257
7th: Kerry Barnett, Waldron, Ark., 13 bass, 36-1, $1,805
8th: James Lynn, Georgetown, Texas, 12 bass, 35-14, $1,354
9th: David Wharton, Del Rio, Texas, 12 bass, 31-7, $903
10th: Justin Lampier, San Angelo, Texas, 10 bass, 31-6, $722
Complete pro results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Gressett also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Thursday – a 9-pound, 15-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $166.
The EverStart Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of four tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the Strike King Angler of the Year title, which allows them to fish the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup.
The next EverStart Series Texas Division tournament will be Feb. 14 – 16 at Toledo Bend Reservoir in Hemphill, Texas, and is hosted by Sabine County.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWOutdoors.
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FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2013 over the course of 220 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show and is broadcast to more than 559 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the “Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water.” For more information about FLW visit FLWOutdoors.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.
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